Yashwant, Jaswant find no place in new BJP team

New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha are among the prominent leaders who have failed to find a place in the new party President Rajnath Singh`s core team.

Both Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha have been senior Ministers in the NDA colaition government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee.

While their names do not figure in the BJP Parliamentary Board, the Central Election Committee or the Central Disciplinary Committee, they have, however, been included in the 80-member BJP National Executive Committee. There are also 123 permanent and special invitees.

Among some of the other prominent leaders who have been dropped from the BJP team are Najma Heptulla, Hema Malini and Shanta Kumar, who were Vice Presidents in the earlier team.

So have party leaders from Uttar Pradesh Kalraj Mishra and Vinay Katiyar, who are no longer Vice Presidents.

Ravi Shankar Prasad will also no longer be a General Secretary and Chief Spokesperson of the party, but will continue as BJP`s Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha.

Party leaders from Uttarakhand Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank have also been dropped as Vice Presidents. So has Gujarat MP and Modi`s confidant Purshottam Rupala. Their names are however, included in the larger National Executive Committee.

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has also been dropped as Secretary, but he found a place in the party`s national executive. Similar is the fate of actors-turned politicians Shatrughan Sinha and Vinod Khanna.